Just Live
by Caderyn
Summary: Danny and Aiden had a rather messy dinner after work and then talked about life. Can be taken as continuing from the end of "Outside Man" or not. DannyAiden pairing.


**Summary: Danny and Aiden had a rather messy dinner and then talked about life.**

**Disclaimer: CSI:NY and all related characters belong to Jerry Bruckheimer and all those blokes at CBS. I don't own squat.**

**Spoiler: I guess you can take it as continuing from the end of _Outside Man_, but there really isn't any spoiler in this.**

**A/N: This is my first Danny/Aiden fic. I've only watched a few episodes (Australia), but so far I'm totally loving Danny/Aiden as well as Mac/Stella. 'Think CSI:NY's going to be my new favorite CSI team. They just work so harmoniously together.**

**Just _Live_**

It all started after a bad case – as most things did.

Danny really didn't feel like going home, only to sleep and start the day all over again tomorrow. Something about monotony turned him off tonight.

So when Aiden asked him if he wanted to have dinner together after shift, he more than gladly agreed.

What did he feel like, she asked.

Whatever she wanted, he told her.

They ended up going for pizza. Danny and Aiden quibbled lightheartedly about which toppings to get. She teased him for his penchant for pineapple, while he crinkled his nose at her particular love of anchovies. In the end, they compromised by ordering one with everything on it and then just picking off bits they didn't like.

Danny surprised himself by having such a great time with Aiden. Sure, they'd gone for drinks after work before, but that was always with other work people, like Flack and Stella. Mack sometimes joined them, but not too often. Danny thought it might have something to do with him being the boss. Stella knew different though and regularly encouraged him to come for _his_ own sake.

Aiden was always fun company to have. She had a loyal string of admirers at the bar because she was constantly up for a game of pool or darts – both of which she won every single time.

Her sharp wit and sarcastic humor, which extended outside of the office, also made her popular, and Danny surprised himself tonight by being so easily cheered up by it.

"Tabasco?" Aiden waved the slim bottle in front of his face with a 'you-wouldn't-dare' look on her face. A moment before, she had pretty much drowned her own slice in the spicy sauce after having picked off the offending bits of pineapple with a wrinkle in her nose.

"No, thanks, Aid. You know I'm not as brave a man as you are. But I'll take these if you don't mind." He reached across to grab the pineapple chunks from her plate and popped them triumphantly into his mouth.

Aiden paused mid-chew. "I'm sorry, but did you just call me a man?"

"Well, if the boot fits …"

Aiden gasped, reached across the table, and whacked him on the head.

"Hey!" Danny pretended to be hurt.

"'Served you right." She was mighty ready to give him a big ol' pout, but one look at his face, and she burst up laughing instead.

"What?"

"Nothing," she chuckled. "It's just that you have pizza sauce from where I hit you."

"Where?" He raised a hand to his face. But the pizza sauce on _his_ hand only made things worse.

Aiden giggled some more. "Here let me get it." She sucked all her fingers clean and reached across the table at him.

He leaned his head back and gave her a hesitant look. "Oh, that's hygienic."

"Shut up. You want pizza sauce all over your face? Come here."

She started cleaning his face gingerly, as a mother would her son's – by wiping the smudges with her fingers and then cleaning those fingers by sucking on them with her lips – but Danny _swore_ he never saw a mother do it so … sexily.

He'd always noticed, of course, that Aiden had sexy lips. But to see those lips sucking gently on her fingers was another thing altogether. He was almost hypnotized by it and was sure glad that Aiden was too busy cleaning his face to notice what he was certain to be a dumbfounded look on his face.

Of course, it didn't help that he could feel those fingers _slowly_ grazing across his cheeks and temples.

Aiden, on her part, was not totally not unaware of the sensations her fingers encountered. She liked the way his cheek was soft, yet dotted with barely protruding stubble that reminded her of sand. As her fingers made their way up to his temple to wipe the last smudge, her eyes followed suit and found that he was looking at her kind of … dazedly.

If Danny were mystified by her lips, Aiden was fascinated by his very blue eyes. For a moment or two, the two stared silently at each other – Aiden's hand continuing to wipe distractedly at a smudge that was long gone, and Danny letting her.

Half a second later, the two realized at the same time the peculiarities of their actions, and were immediately snapped out of whatever trance they were in.

Aiden jerked her hand away as if his skin was a hot plate, and Danny avoided her eyes as if they were headlights.

"Um, why don't we get the rest with napkins?" she suggested uncomfortably.

Danny practically jumped, "Yeah, napkins, good idea. I'll go get them."

When he got back to the table, Aiden had gone back to her pizza. It was awkwardly silent for a couple of minutes … Then one of them made a joke and they silently agreed to forget the incident and just enjoy their meal.

By the end of the night, Danny was cheered up enough by Aiden that he could talk about today's case without being down.

"Do you think it's going to be like that?"

They were strolling together in the direction of her apartment because Danny wanted to walk her home. Aiden turned to look at him and snickered, "God, can you be any more vague?"

"Death, you know. When you go out, do you think it's going to be, like … one moment you're drinking coffee on your way to work, and then the next, you're dead … all zipped up in a body bag, waiting to be cracked open by Hawkes like a piñata?"

Aiden paused a moment before answering, "I don't know, Danny … I know that you can't choose the way you go, or even when. I know that you'll never know … Some people say they'd see signs before they check out, but I doubt it. It's cruel, but that's just they way life is. I mean, other than taking a gun and shooting yourself in the head right now, there's no way that you can control it."

"It's crazy, but sometimes I feel like terminal disease patients have got it made – because they, at least, know when they'll go. It's kind of … calming, isn't it, not having to deal with the unpredictable?"

Aiden shook her head, "I don't think so … because no matter how little or how much time you've got, it's never enough. Everyday we see people treat human life like garbage, but you'd be surprised at how stubbornly a person will cling to life. There just never is enough time to live."

Danny grinned almost scornfully, "What do you do then?"

Aiden considered it. "I don't know. The only thing you _can_ do … Just _live_." She looked at him and smiled, "If, at the end of it, everyone dies, you might as well put your time here to good use. And, for the record, I think what we do is a pretty damn good use of our time."

They finally arrived in front of Aiden's building. She hopped onto the first step of the stairs that led to her entrance and gazed down at Danny. "Thanks for walking me home. You really don't have to, you know, considering I carry a weapon and am _reasonably_ trained at using it."

"It's the least I can do for asking me to dinner."

"You looked like you needed some fun company."

"Yeah, uh, listen … Thanks for the pep talk over there."

Aiden smirked at him and brought a hand to his head, lightly messing up his hair, "You take yourself too seriously sometimes, Danny."

"Good that you're always around then, Aid." He took her hand from his head and brought it down beside them.

They chuckled silently for a moment. Danny was still holding her hand as he gazed up at her and seemed to be contemplating something. He leaned closer … and, for a moment, Aiden actually thought that he was going to kiss her … But then he stopped mid-way, let go of her hand, and stepped back.

Danny shoved his hands in his coat pockets and grinned up at her, "So I see you tomorrow?"

Aiden climbed up the stairs and waved at him, "Good night, Danny."

On the street and in front of the door, Danny and Aiden hesitantly turned their backs on each other.

Danny walked for two blocks replaying everything that happened tonight. One thing Aiden said kept coming back. He couldn't shake it out his head. In one impulsive move, he turned and sprinted all the way back to Aiden's apartment.

Meanwhile, Aiden had spent the first fifteen minutes in her apartment standing against her door. She kept repeating everything that happened tonight in her head and cursed herself for doing nothing about it. She sighed heavily and reluctantly removed her coat. As she walked to her room to get ready for bed, somebody knocked on the door.

She opened it to see a very much breathless Danny.

"Danny, what –"

But before she could say anything more, he stepped forward and kissed her fully on the lips. She didn't really have time to respond, but had enough time to decide that it was definitely not a chaste peck between friends. She tasted the sweetness of pineapple in the seconds that it lasted and found herself craving for it as soon as it finished.

Funny how she used to _hate_ pineapples.

"What was that?"

"That was me, uh, _living._"

They had another silent moment as she just stood there staring at him. He was so ready to turn around and bolt, but Aiden stopped him by grabbing his hand. Without a word, she cupped his cheek with both hands and captured his lips with her own.

This, Danny thought, was definitely _not_ simply a friendly return of kiss.

Once they finished, Aiden stepped back and said, "Do you want to come in?"

Danny nodded and followed her inside.

**A/N: Tell me what you think. I'm generally a romance/humor writer, so I don't like doing full-on angst. It probably accounts for the weird change of mood throughout the fic.**


End file.
